Fifteen hundred years ago, the powerful Great Yu dynasty ruled the Central Plains. Founded by Gao Yan, known as Emperor Taizu of Yu, it lasted 350 years before falling into decline. In its final years, the northern Hu tribes rose to power and seized the northern Central Plains. The Central Plains regime fled south and became the Little Yu dynasty.
The young emperor of Little Yu had no real authority. For more than a decade, regional lords fought for power, until the emperor finally abdicated in favor of the Prince of Donglin, and the dynasty fell apart. The Central Plains then became a land of five rival states: Donglin, Western Sui, Northern Yang, Southern Tang, and Zhongxia. The northern Hu tribes also emerged from their turmoil, adopted Han culture, and established states of their own, including the Great Qi under the Lezheng clan and the Great Xuan under the Helian clan. Ten such regimes arose in all.
This was the first great merging of peoples. The fifteen states formed alliances and vied for power, much like during the Spring and Autumn period, and the era came to be known as the “Little Spring and Autumn.” The ten smaller states depended on the five major powers, and whichever of the five held hegemony could command the other four and receive tribute from the ten smaller states.
At first, Donglin held hegemony, maintaining its position for seventy years before Western Sui replaced it. Western Sui held on for fifty years before Northern Yang took its place. The emperor of Northern Yang had been a wise and valiant ruler in his early years, but after becoming hegemon, he grew arrogant and complacent. In just twenty years, Southern Tang wrested the position from him.
